Brain-Jockey

From the Land of Politically Incorrect: Nixon Ciggies

Written by Audrie Zettick on January 15, 2009

My first foray into real campaigning was “manning” (womaning?) the phone banks for the Committee to Re-Elect the President (yes, for you young-uns, that’s CREEP) in 1972.  (I was, of course, but an infant.) 

 

While clearing out some old files of my mom’s (who was involved in managing the campaign for Bucks County, PA), I stumbled onto a myriad of cool things, from memos on GOTV (get out the vote), ad strategy, to old news clippings. 

 

Being a forward-thinking child, I had already stashed away ephemera and didn’t expect to find anything new.  But here’s my surprise: Nixon-branded cigarettes. 

 

Turns out Nixon wasn’t the first to give out cigarettes.  Eisenhower, Stevenson and others had used them (examples here).  And unlike with Obama, smoking or not smoking wasn’t seen as an issue.

 

Two things struck me as funny about Nixon ciggies. Nixon himself signed the 1970 legislation banning cigarette ads in the broadcast media.  And, if you look closely…..  

….the imprint says these are for the “descriminating voter.”  

 

I guess history has proven that some people involved in the Nixon campaign weren’t rocket scientists…or brain jockeys.